Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released in some territories as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film, which is the first instalment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. The story follows Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts as he discovers that he is a famous wizard and begins his magical education. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger. It is followed by seven sequels in total, beginning with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the book in 1999 for a reported £1 million. Production began in the United Kingdom in 2000, with Columbus being chosen to create the film from a short list of directors that included Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner. J. K. Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British or Irish. The film was shot at Leavesden Film Studios and historic buildings around the UK. The film was released in the UK and US on 16 November 2001. It received positive critical reception, made more than $970 million at the worldwide box office, and was nominated for many awards, including the Academy Awards for Best Original Score, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. As of December 2015, it is the 26th-highest-grossing film of all time and the second-highest-grossing film in the series behind the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Plot Harry Potter is a seemingly ordinary boy, living with his hostile relatives, the Dursleys in Surrey. On his eleventh birthday, Harry learns from a mysterious stranger, Rubeus Hagrid, that he is a wizard, famous in the wizarding world for surviving an attack by the evil Lord Voldemort when Harry was a baby. Voldemort killed Harry's parents, James and Lily Potter, but his attack on Harry rebounded, leaving only a lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead and rendering Voldemort powerless. Hagrid reveals to Harry that he has been invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After purchasing school supplies from the hidden wizarding street, Diagon Alley, Harry boards the train to Hogwarts via the concealed Platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross Station. During the journey on the train, Harry meets Ron Weasley, a boy from a large, but poor, pure-blood wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, a witch born to Muggle (non-magical) parents, who would both become Harry's lifelong best friends. Upon arriving at the school, the first year students are sorted into four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. As Slytherin is noted for being the house of darker wizards and witches, Harry begs the magical Sorting Hat not to put him in Slytherin. He is assigned to Gryffindor, along with Ron and Hermione. Harry notices a professor, Severus Snape, giving him peculiar looks. Harry begins learning wizardry and discovers more about his past and his parents. Harry inadvertently makes Gryffindor's Quidditch team (a sport in the wizarding world where people fly on broomsticks) as a Seeker while defending another student, Neville Longbottom, from Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin first year, learning that his father was also on the team. One night, Harry, Ron and Hermione encounter a giant three-headed dog named Fluffy belonging to Hagrid at the Forbidden Corridor on the Third Floor of the school. After the trio incapacitate an escaped mountain troll and Harry is nearly knocked from his broom by a curse during one of the Quidditch matches, the trio assume that someone is trying to get past the dog. At Christmas, Harry receives the Invisibility Cloak that his father left in Harry's possession before he died. Whilst using the Invisibility Cloak in the Restricted Section, Harry discovers the Mirror of Erised, which shows a person's heart's desire. The mirror shows Harry his deceased family. The Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, finds Harry with the mirror and explains to him about the mirror and how he never knew of his family and how men became obsessed with it. So he informs Harry that he will move the mirror and advises him against searching for it again. Using information let slip by Hagrid, Hermione discovers that the dog is guarding the Philosopher's Stone, an item that can grant its owner immortality. Harry concludes that his potions teacher, Severus Snape, is trying to obtain the stone. Whilst visiting Hagrid who is hatching a baby Norwegian dragon called Norbert, Draco Malfoy manages to get Harry, Ron and Hermione caught out of bed at night, resulting them, as well as himself to serve detention and the dragon is safely sent away to Romania. While helping Hagrid in the Dark Forest, Harry sees a hooded figure drinking a unicorn's blood for its healing properties. The hooded figure then attempts to attack Harry, only to be scared off by an arriving centaur named Firenze, a close friend of Hagrid's. Harry concludes that the hooded figure was Voldemort and that Snape is trying to get the stone to restore Voldemort to full strength. After hearing from Hagrid that the dog will fall asleep if played music and that he revealed this to a man in a local pub, Harry, Ron and Hermione conclude that Snape was the man in the pub and attempt to warn Dumbledore. Upon learning that he is away on business, the trio conclude that Snape will attempt to steal the stone that night and resolve to find the stone before Snape does. They face a series of obstacles: surviving a deadly plant, flying past hundreds of flying keys and winning a violent, life-sized chess match. The trio use their skills to overcome the obstacles: Hermione uses her knowledge of spells to get past the plant, Devil's Snare; Harry uses his skills as a Seeker to get past the keys and catch the one that unlocks the door; and Ron uses his skill at chess to win the chess match. However, Ron is nearly killed in the chess match and Hermione stays with him as Harry goes on ahead alone. In the final room, Harry finds out that it was not Snape who wanted the stone, but Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Quirrell. Quirrell reveals that he let the troll in and tried to kill Harry in the Quidditch match. He also reveals that Snape has been protecting Harry and trying to stop Quirrell all year. Then, Professor Quirrell forces Harry to look in the Mirror of Erised. Due to an enchantment placed by Dumbledore, Harry finds the stone in his pocket after looking in the mirror. After trying to get Harry to answer what he has seen in the mirror, Quirrell removes his turban and reveals Voldemort to be living on the back of his head. Harry tries to escape but Quirrell starts a fire by clicking his fingers to prevent his escape. Voldemort tries to convince Harry to give him the stone by pledging to bring his parents back from the dead, but Harry refuses. Quirrell then tries to kill him but Harry's touch prevents him from hurting him and causes him to turn into dust and die. When Harry gets up, Voldemort's spirit forms and passes through Harry, knocking him unconscious before fleeing. Harry wakes up at the school's hospital wing. Professor Dumbledore explains that the stone has been destroyed and that Hermione and Ron are safe. Quirrell burned at Harry's touch because, when Harry's mother died to save him, her death gave Harry a love-based protection against Voldemort. Harry soon exits the hospital wing and is reunited with Ron and Hermione, with Ron once again brought back to consciousness. During the end-of-year feast, Gryffindor has 312 House Points, Hufflepuff 352, Ravenclaw 426 and Slytherin 472. The Gryffindors are upset, but then Dumbledore interrupts and announces that recent events must be taken into account and has a few last minute points to award. First, fifty points to Hermione for cool use of intellect while others were in peril, fifty points to Ron for the best played game of chess that Hogwarts had seen for many years, sixty points to Harry for pure nerve and outstanding courage, and ten points to Neville for the bravery of standing up to his friends. These last-minute points win Gryffindor the House Cup, and all the Gryffindors celebrate their victory. Before Harry and the rest of the students leave for the summer, Harry realises that while every other student is going home, Hogwarts is truly his home. Cast *Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter *Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley *Emma Watson as Hermione Granger *John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick *Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid *Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick *Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley *Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore *Ian Hart as Quirinus Quirrell *John Hurt as Mr. Ollivander *Alan Rickman as Severus Snape *Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley *Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall *Julie Walters as Molly Weasley Production Development Filming Design and special effects Music Distribution Marketing Home media Reception Box office Critical response Accolades Video-Game Transcript Gallery Trivia Differences between the book and the film See also References External Links Category:Warner Bros. films Category:Harry Potter (film series) Category:2001 films Category:Fantasy films Category:Harry Potter Category:Adventure films Category:American films Category:British films Category:1492 Pictures films Category:Harry Potter films Category:Family films Category:Films Category:Theatrical films Category:Films with director's cuts Category:Heyday Films Category:IMAX films Category:Films based on books Category:Films based on novels Category:PG-rated films Category:J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World films Category:Industrial Light & Magic